Nia signs up to Living Wage Campaign

Nia Griffith MP and Keith Davies AM have signed up to Unison’s Living Wage Campaign, which is calling on Carmarthenshire County Council to introduce the Living Wage (£7.45 hourly) for all council staff and contractors’ staff employed in delivering services on behalf of the Council, as a major step towards creating a Living Wage economy in Carmarthenshire.

Nia said, “Councillors have already taken a significant step forward in abolishing the very lowest pay grades, so that although the pay of the lowest paid council workers is not yet up to the Living Wage, if you count in the pension contributions, it works out as the equivalent of £7.81 an hour. But, with the cost of living rising and this government doing nothing to tackle the energy companies over rocketing fuel bills, there is no room for complacency, and councillors will need to continue to make this a priority. Using the fact that the council is a very important purchaser of services to require contractors working for the council to pay their workers the Living Wage is another vital step towards developing a Living Wage economy here in west Wales. We all have a responsibility to take an interest in what people who provide us with goods and services are being paid. “